Sicko Roderick William Robinson has been on the run for more than a decade and now sources say he could have vital evidence about a suspected paedophile ring

Andrew Chant PicturesDangerous: Robinson after his arrest in Thailand

Police are hunting a British paedophile who was in Portugal at the time of child sex attacks linked to the Madeleine McCann case.

Roderick William Robinson, 77, was first arrested while lying low at a rundown campsite on the Algarve in 2010. He had been on the run for more than a decade.

Sources close to the latest Madeleine McCann investigation have indicated that British ­detectives believe he could have vital evidence about a suspected paedophile ring.

The ring operated across the Algarve at the time three-year-old Madeleine was snatched in Praia da Luz in 2007.

A source said: “Roderick Robinson is a ­notorious and dangerous sex offender. He has shown a pattern of disturbing behaviour ­wherever he has travelled.

“He may have vital information which could shed light on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. He is wanted on an international arrest warrant after failing to notify British police of his whereabouts and it is vital he is found without delay.”

After Robinson’s arrest in 2010 he was ­extradited to Australia where he was wanted for raping an eight-year-old girl in 1998. After agreeing to a plea deal he was convicted of indecently assaulting the child and sentenced to six months in prison.

Within weeks of his release the former oil rig worker fled to Thailand but three months later he was deported back to Britain after Thai authorities found out about his past.

He moved to Brighton, east Sussex, and was made to sign the sex offenders register. But in June 2012 he went on to sexually assault two girls, aged five and seven, on a yacht. This led to another conviction but, despite his past, his 12-month sentence was suspended for two years. Within weeks he changed his name by deed poll and fled to the Far East.

Scotland Yard detectives are currently ­investigating 18 possible linked break-ins at Algarve villas by a lone intruder between 2004 and 2010. Six have come to light since an appeal by UK detectives last month, with five of those involving alleged sex attacks on British girls.

Overall, nine of the 18 break-ins involved assaults on British girls, aged six to 12. Three took place in Praia da Luz.

The attacks stopped at around the time Robinson was deported from Portugal.

He was first arrested by Portuguese police at a campsite in Olhao on the Algarve, 60 miles from Praia da Luz. He associated with other ­paedophiles in the area around the time Madeleine vanished.

A source said: “These are questions that could have particular significance in the ­disappearance of Madeleine McCann.”

When he was deported from Thailand, Robinson told a reporter: “I’m a marked man for the rest of my life which won’t be very long.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We do not comment on ongoing investigation

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We do not comment on ongoing investigation

I wonder how they call Redwoods TV time then? For me all that has been 'commenting on ongoing investigation' And as they keep mccanns informed, they should tell them not to 'comment' ...because they have been all over the media commenting.This all gets sillier day by day.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We do not comment on ongoing investigation

I wonder how they call Redwoods TV time then? For me all that has been 'commenting on ongoing investigation' And as they keep mccanns informed, they should tell them not to 'comment' ...because they have been all over the media commenting.This all gets sillier day by day.

I hope you don't mind me joining you weissichtn OMG this is unbelevible

interested wrote:When I read the topic heading "Police hunt British Paedo who was nearby when Madeleine went missing" (and before reading the article), my first thought was Dr. David Payne must be on the run.

Hi Interested, your'e the second person to suggest David Payne might be involved, what is your theory based on?

interested wrote:When I read the topic heading "Police hunt British Paedo who was nearby when Madeleine went missing" (and before reading the article), my first thought was Dr. David Payne must be on the run.

Hi Interested, your'e the second person to suggest David Payne might be involved, what is your theory based on?

Hi "Panda", my thought was based on Dr. Gaspar's statment and the fact that David Payne was "nearby". After reading the article I can see it is someone else they want us to believe is in the frame, the latest of so many persons of interest.

interested wrote:When I read the topic heading "Police hunt British Paedo who was nearby when Madeleine went missing" (and before reading the article), my first thought was Dr. David Payne must be on the run.

Hi Interested, your'e the second person to suggest David Payne might be involved, what is your theory based on?

Hi "Panda", my thought was based on Dr. Gaspar's statment and the fact that David Payne was "nearby". After reading the article I can see it is someone else they want us to believe is in the frame, the latest of so many persons of interest.

Well Interested , I can,t see Payne involved at all, apart the time Gerry on the Tennis Court supposedly asked Payne to ask Kate if she wanted to bring the children down to the Court, knowing she wouldn't trail 3 children near their bedtime down to the Court.That puzzled me because apparently Kate said he was only in the Apartment for 5 minutes, Payne said 30 minutes.

If it was anybody I think it could be Russesll , for these reasons.......forget the timelines

1. Madeleine leaned over the settee too far and fell over it , hitting her head which bled and that is where the blood from behind the Settee came from and her breathing was affected through fright

2. Russell was called to perform a tracheotomy which unfortunately failed

3. Jane never saw a suspect , she said she did to protect Russell

4. Gerry put Madeleine's body in the tennis bag and hid it until he had a chance to throw it over the cliffs while everyone else was searching.

5. A sheet was washed by Russell apparently and draped over the verandah supposedly from Ellie's bed, what if it was from Madeleine's bed to stem the blood

We know the timelines are up the creek , the only one which counts is Gerry talking to the T.V. guy across the road from 5a.

to perform a tracheotomy which failed and tragically Madeleine did not survive

interested wrote:When I read the topic heading "Police hunt British Paedo who was nearby when Madeleine went missing" (and before reading the article), my first thought was Dr. David Payne must be on the run.

Hi Interested, your'e the second person to suggest David Payne might be involved, what is your theory based on?

Hi "Panda", my thought was based on Dr. Gaspar's statment and the fact that David Payne was "nearby". After reading the article I can see it is someone else they want us to believe is in the frame, the latest of so many persons of interest.

Hi Interested

I also thought that the British paedo was David Payne. However if Payne was the paedo, I don't believe he will ever be brought to justice, if Scotland Yard have anything to do with it. I don't believe S.Y. will diss the person/s within the Leicester police force, who held on to the Gaspars statements, until the McCanns were home and dry.

Gerry McCann's friend Superintendent Stuart 'call me Stu' Prior, contacted the PJ, to express his annoyance at the allegations made against David Payne.

Is it any wonder people like me, who have read the links below, are of the conclusion that Madeleine will never receive justice.

Panda wrote:If it was anybody I think it could be Russesll , for these reasons.......forget the timelines

1. Madeleine leaned over the settee too far and fell over it , hitting her head which bled and that is where the blood from behind the Settee came from and her breathing was affected through fright

2. Russell was called to perform a tracheotomy which unfortunately failed

3. Jane never saw a suspect , she said she did to protect Russell

4. Gerry put Madeleine's body in the tennis bag and hid it until he had a chance to throw it over the cliffs while everyone else was searching.

5. A sheet was washed by Russell apparently and draped over the verandah supposedly from Ellie's bed, what if it was from Madeleine's bed to stem the blood

We know the timelines are up the creek , the only one which counts is Gerry talking to the T.V. guy across the road from 5a to perform a tracheotomy which failed and tragically Madeleine did not survive

Panda, wasn't Russell and anesthesiologist? I think he may have been the one to give Madeleine a fatal dose of sedatives. Restaurant workers stated he was gone for much longer than he claims, in fact they say that he was gone almost the entire time (9:05 to 9:50), rather than only 20 minutes as he claimed. He could have been the one to get up at 9:05 (as Kate claimed in her statement), not Matt, and either only Matt went to check at 9:25 or nobody did. It is clear that Matt entirely made up his second check at 9:25, so likely would have made up the earlier one as well in order to shorten Russell's absence, and cover for the fact that he never checked on his daughter all evening.

Panda wrote:If it was anybody I think it could be Russesll , for these reasons.......forget the timelines

1. Madeleine leaned over the settee too far and fell over it , hitting her head which bled and that is where the blood from behind the Settee came from and her breathing was affected through fright

2. Russell was called to perform a tracheotomy which unfortunately failed

3. Jane never saw a suspect , she said she did to protect Russell

4. Gerry put Madeleine's body in the tennis bag and hid it until he had a chance to throw it over the cliffs while everyone else was searching.

5. A sheet was washed by Russell apparently and draped over the verandah supposedly from Ellie's bed, what if it was from Madeleine's bed to stem the blood

We know the timelines are up the creek , the only one which counts is Gerry talking to the T.V. guy across the road from 5a to perform a tracheotomy which failed and tragically Madeleine did not survive

Panda, wasn't Russell and anesthesiologist? I think he may have been the one to give Madeleine a fatal dose of sedatives. Restaurant workers stated he was gone for much longer than he claims, in fact they say that he was gone almost the entire time (9:05 to 9:50), rather than only 20 minutes as he claimed. He could have been the one to get up at 9:05 (as Kate claimed in her statement), not Matt, and either only Matt went to check at 9:25 or nobody did. It is clear that Matt entirely made up his second check at 9:25, so likely would have made up the earlier one as well in order to shorten Russell's absence, and cover for the fact that he never checked on his daughter all evening.

Hi jinvta, let's face it ,we will never know what happened to Madeleine and the question has to be asked, Why did The Tapas Group get together before their first interview to write down timelines on the cover of a child's Book???? It was said Jane didn't even go to the Restaurant that night. I don't know if Russell is an anesthesiologist but maybe he had experience of tracheotomy. This theory came from a Poster on 3a's a Forum run by the Daily Mirror soon after Madeleine's disappearance. It was immediately withdrawn as was another theory I read late one night on the DM. A Poster with a foreign name said Madeleine's body was hidden in a pipe laid a few feet under the earth of ongoing waterworks.